ALVIN ELTON, 56
From Chicago. Died March 22.
Alvin Elton died March 22, nine days after his 56th birthday.
The Chicago man had thought he had the flu. He was exhausted. His body ached.
“I don’t feel bad,” his wife recalled him telling her days earlier. “I’m just so tired and have no appetite.”
But, after a March 20 chest X-ray at an urgent care clinic revealed pneumonia, Elton was immediately placed on oxygen and hospitalized.
“Forty-eight hours later, he was gone,” his wife, Gretchen Meyer, told the Tribune.
Authorities determined Elton died of pneumonia due to a COVID-19 infection. He had preexisting health
conditions, including diabetes, which were listed as contributing factors.
Family and friends described his larger-than-life personality and passion for competitive sports, both as a participant and a spectator. He was a popular competitive darts player on the city’s Northwest Side who also loved attending live concerts, outdoor festivals, skiing and travel.
A close friend, Peter Citera, remembered Elton for his “his easy smile, infectious laughter and unparalleled love of life.”
“The two things that made Alvin happiest were sports and having a cold beer with good friends,” Citera said in an online tribute. “If the two could be combined — as they often were — well, that was absolutely ideal.”
Elton graduated Evanston Township High School, later following in his father’s footsteps while pursuing a career as a pipefitter, his wife said.
She said they met nearly 20 years ago while on opposing teams during a Thursday night Windy City Darters league match at a Rogers Park bar. She isn’t positive whose team won, but she remembers the email he sent her that next morning and their first date a day later to a Cubs game.
She said Elton was especially proud of his Native American heritage. His parents, both deceased, grew up on reservations in different Sioux tribes in South Dakota. He spent summers there when he was younger and continued to study and pay tribute to his roots throughout his life.
His father, Arthur, was a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. His mom, Adeline, or Addie, was part of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
They met in Chicago in the early 1960s while both were taking part in a federal job training program, his wife said.
She described her husband as loving and warm, the kind of guy who easily made and kept friendships.
Meyer said she thought her husband’s condition had stabilized March 21, the day after he was hospitalized. But, on Sunday, he still was unconscious and on a ventilator. He died that night.
Wearing protective gear, she was able to be at his side even though the hospital had restricted most visitors.
In the days that have followed, Meyer described a maze of bureaucracy, misinformation, and confusion among various authorities as she sought word about the cause of her husband’s death and when his body could be released to a funeral home.
Meyer also said she has not received guidance about whether she should be quarantined. She has voluntarily chosen to do so, she said.
“It was very frustrating and something that needs to improve for other families,” she said. “I wouldn’t want anyone else in this situation to have to go through this.”
Besides his wife, Elton is survived by a sister, Anne Gavin, three nieces and a nephew. His wife said a celebration of his life will be held at a later date.